A Few New Looks
by RiverWriter
Summary: Glimpses into Draco, Hermione, and Scorpius' life as a family. A sequel to my story, "A Second Look."
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

When Hermione woke up on the morning of February 17th, Scorpius' first birthday, it was to the feeling of small legs kicking her back. She opened her eyes and rolled over, confused. Scorpius was facing her, his face scrunched up in frustration as he attempted to escape his father's obviously tight grasp.

Hermione didn't understand why he wasn't crying if he was in distress. And then she realized that he wasn't. He just looked...annoyed. And then there was the whole subject of why he was in bed with them to begin with. She and Draco were both light sleepers, a result of the trauma they'd both endured as adolescents, so while they took turns tending to Scorpius in the middle of the night it was rare that the other was totally unaware of what was going on. But she hadn't heard anything.

"Hi, Bug," she whispered. "Happy birthday!" She reached out and tried to gently remove Scorpius from Draco but his eyes flew open, Draco held the baby tighter and he began to scream.

Hermione placed one hand on Draco's cheek, the other on Scorpius' head. "Draco let him go," she ordered. His eyes went wide and he immediately loosened his arms from the little boy, who also immediately stopped struggling but didn't move out of Draco's grasp. He obviously wasn't so opposed to being held by his father as he was by not having any choice in the matter.

He did continue to fuss but that was also almost immediately solved by Falcor, their puppy, joining them, worming his way between the two adults and snuggling up with Scorpius. Hermione just glared at her fiancé, she did not approve of the puppy being allowed on the bed.

He blinked at her blearily. "Well at least it's settled him down."

"You know that I'm not necessarily opposed to Scorpius being in our bed, Draco, if it's called for, but I don't remember hearing him be upset."

Draco licked his lips. "He wasn't."

"Okay," she said, uncertain how to respond to that.

He swallowed and his eyes took on an almost haunted quality.

All of her instincts went on alert. "Are you finally going to tell me what's been going on with you this week?" She asked him. "Because we have a bunch of people coming over for a party later and I'd rather not still be in the middle of a fight."

"Yeah, as best I can, at least." He sighed and rubbed his hands up and down his face. "I'm sorry about Valentine's Day, I ignored your wishes and then I completely overreacted to the whole situation."

Hermione glanced at the small otter figurine perched on her bedside table which Scorpius had given her for Valentine's Day. It was the only present she'd ended up receiving from a Malfoy that day, which was appropriate, given that it was Scorpius whom she'd ended up spending her evening with as opposed to his father.

Hermione was not generally opposed to the idea of celebrating the holiday. Her father had a lovely tradition of always sending her flowers along with a thoughtful note that made her cry every year. And she'd certainly been on dates to celebrate in the past, but it also wasn't a big deal to her. But this year she knew she was going to have an extremely busy week at work because the new Wizengamot session was about to begin, and she had to prepare several proposals on behalf of her department. Then there was Scorpius' birthday party to plan.

She decided she just wanted to spend the night relaxing with her two favorite men, allowing Effie to spoil them all. But, knowing Draco, he was cooking up an extravagant date. So she'd approached him and told him her wishes. They talked about it. They agreed.

At least she thought they had.

That was until she returned home on the evening of the 14th, exhausted, and anxious to cuddle Scorpius which always did wonders for her stress levels, only to find Draco waiting for her in a suit with a portkey to Paris, having already shipped Scorpius off to Harry for the night. Then he'd informed her with a smug little smile that they would be spending the night in the City of Lights and that he'd already secured her a day off from work the next day.

Which was just a step too far for her, and the point at which she lost her temper.

She called him spoiled and high handed.

He called her controlling and ungrateful.

It was not pretty, but it also wasn't the worst fight they'd ever had. She tried to calm down and asked him to _please_ cancel their plans. And that's when he did something he'd never done before, which had turned it from a spat to the three day long standoff they were currently engaged in: he stormed out.

At first she wasn't worried, she assumed he'd just gone to cool off. So, she went to Harry's to retrieve Scorpius and settled in for a quiet night. But by the time he stumbled home drunk at 5am she wasn't sure if she wanted to kiss him or kill him. Not just drunk, incoherent, almost unable to stand up. Hermione still wasn't sure how he'd gotten home, or why he'd been in such a state.

"I was scared, Draco! I didn't know where you were! You left your mobile here! You ignored my patronuses!"

"I know."

"I like to think that I'm a fairly reasonable witch. If we have a fight and you need to get away from me for awhile, that's fine, but you can't just disappear! We have a child! A child I have no legal rights to! What if something had happened to you? And what would possess you to get that drunk anyway?"

"I-"

But Hermione wasn't done. "You won't talk to me, you won't touch me. And now you've literally put Scorpius between us. Would it be so terrible if you accidentally touched me in your sleep?"

"No, no, that's not it at all! I just needed him here with me. And I'm more sorry than you know that I didn't talk to you, but I didn't know what to say to you until right now."

"What is going on, Draco? Because now that I think about it, you were acting oddly even before Valentine's Day."

Draco looked down at Scorpius who had somehow managed to fall asleep clasping the puppy, despite the obvious tension between the adults, and cupped his head gently. Draco took a deep breath. "Sometimes I can't even believe he exists, I can't trust my good fortune and that he won't just up and disappear one day. A year ago today he was...I mean I'm so thankful for him. But Astoria wouldn't even let me in the room when she was in labor. I didn't even know if he'd lived. I think," he swallowed over and over, "this is a terrible thing to say about a woman who had just given birth, who had just given me a child."

"No, tell me." Hermione encouraged, she had no idea how this all fit together, but she knew Draco well enough to know that he needed her patience right now.

"I think she had them keep the information from me for as long as possible, just to keep me in suspense and make me suffer."

"Draco," she gasped, "why?"

He shrugged. "For asking for a divorce. Perhaps to give me time to think about how much a living heir was worth to me. I don't know. But I know that between the time of birth on his birth certificate and when I was informed was more than ninety minutes. He had been cleaned and Astoria was in a separate recovery suite before I was allowed to see him. I grilled the healers so I discovered that she at least held him briefly just after he was born, but that was all. Even after we returned home with him… I realize I'd already discussed my desire for a divorce but I didn't understand how much she resented that. I see now that Scorpius was like a trigger for her. She resented him so much. I don't understand it. I don't understand how anybody could look at him and not love him."

Hermione glanced down at the little boy who was half covered in puppy and had shifted in his sleep to grasp her pajama top. She didn't understand either. But she was beginning to see that while the approach of this date had been exciting for her, and also made her a little melancholy given the time she'd missed with Scorpius, that it had affected Draco on a much deeper level.

"If we have a baby you'll be in the room, okay?" She assured him.

He blinked, obviously taken aback by her pronouncement. "What?"

"I want you there. And if they have to make you leave for some terrible reason then I'll make sure they're told to keep you updated at every turn. You should never have to just...wonder about the fate of your child."

He squeezed his eyes shut. "Hermione, please, don't talk like that."

"I'm not being morbid," she interrupted him immediately. "I have every intention of being around for a very long time. But it would be irresponsible of us to not consider worst case scenarios. This is standard in the muggle world. It's called the power of attorney. If something should ever happen to me, I'd want you to know, especially during the birth of our child, but in general I trust you to make decisions on my behalf if I can't. It's probably something else we should discuss before we get married."

"I want you to adopt Scorpius," he blurted.

Her eyes flew open. "What?!" This conversation was taking all kinds of unexpected turns.

"You're his mother," he responded, but the insecurity in his eyes irked her.

"Yes," she agreed, and it was all she could do not to snatch the baby up and flee the room at the mere inference that anything could be different. The way her magic flared in her fury had Scorpius clutching at her pajamas even tighter and burrowing his face against her breasts.

"I've talked to your parents a little. And from what they say the idea of adoption in the muggle world is lovely- if sometimes a little unconventional. But here, unless you're family it's obscene."

Hermione was not a fool, she knew what he meant. Blood was so important in this society, it was insulting to ask a person to raise another's child; beyond presumptuous. "And that doesn't bother you, for Scorpius?"

"To have a mother who chose and loved him no matter what, no? That seems a gift beyond measure. I simply don't wish to burden you further."

"With your child?"

"Well when you put it that way…"

"Talk about a gift beyond measure. I'm so honored, Draco," she curled her body around Scorpius and Falcor in a way which she hoped would do best to keep from disturbing them. They each let out squeaks in their sleep that were so similar that it made both adults laugh. "My answer is, of course, yes."

"Thank you," he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Did you think I would say no?"

"I think you have every reason to."

She glared at him and briefly brushed her hand against Scorpius' head. "Shut your mouth," she hissed at Draco.

It came out much harsher than she'd intended, but he absolutely beamed at her. "Good."

"Good?"

"That you're so insistent that he's yours."

Hermione took a deep breath. "I'm trying to resist the urge to punch you in the face. It's like you're trying to set a record for how many hours in a row you can try my patience."

"It wouldn't be the first time."

"Draco, please stop baiting me. What you just asked of me…"

"Most witches would consider it an insult. Most witches wouldn't want the responsibility of a child that wasn't theirs if something was to happen to me."

"I'd like to think you know me better than that."

"I do, but this is how I was raised. I can't just stop thinking like this automatically. And you've given me more than I could possibly ask for already."

"So have you," she said quietly, taking a deep breath. "What about the Greengrasses, what will this mean for them?"

"They have no right to him, but they might if the entire Malfoy line expired. He's the heir to not one, but two noble houses. Her parents have left it alone for the moment because they don't want to draw attention to Astoria's...insufficiency as a wife, but in that situation they might try to gain custody and I never want that to happen," he squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm sorry, I wanted this to be a good day."

Hermione licked her lips. "You could have taken him from Astoria, if she was the one who wanted him but you didn't, except for his value as your heir. Couldn't you, if you were that kind of man."

"You know this answer to that question, Hermione."

"Yes, and it's terrible, on so many levels."

"Yes." Draco agreed with a shudder .

"You're afraid."

"Yes, for him always. I think it comes with the territory."

She nodded. "Get me the parchment work or whatever is required as soon as possible. But then we're going to change this world so that nobody can take children from the parents that actually want them."

"Thank you, sweetness. But we can't finalize it until we're legally bound."

"Then we'll tell our mothers to get a move on with their, frankly ridiculous plans, or we go on without them."

He chuckled. "You can be the one to tell them that."

They gazed at each other over the little bodies wedged between them.

"Now are you going to tell me what happened on Valentine's Day?" She asked. "Because I can see now why you've been feeling emotional...vulnerable lately, your reaction still feels disproportionate to the fight that we had."

He carefully reached over and placed a hand on her hip. "Most of the time I still think that I should be dead."

"Draco!" She protested.

He shook his head. "I certainly don't _want _ to be but it's what I deserve. I certainly don't deserve the life that I have now."

"Draco- don't!"

"It's just true, Hermione. Don't you think it's people like Fred Weasley who should still be here building their own families instead of me?"

Hermione felt her hackles rise. "I think that's an impossible question, but I wouldn't trade you for anybody. And Scorpius wouldn't be here if you weren't, which is unacceptable to me. Does that make me terrible?" She challenged him.

"No," he sighed. "I'm just trying to articulate how I've been feeling lately."

"Go ahead."

"I think that feeling is what led me to stay in a marriage that made me miserable for so long. I don't know that I was punishing myself, but I accepted it, nonetheless. But I wanted to set a better example for Scorpius."

She just hummed in agreement, he'd said as much before.

"And then you came along," he stroked her hip with his thumb. "I mean you literally appeared in front of me, screaming my name but looking at me with far more compassion than I ever could have imagined, with all your attitude and wild beauty, and you took to my kid like it was the most natural thing in the world. And I _wanted_ you, sweetness, almost right away, I _coveted _you and I set out to win you."

Hermione felt her mouth twist into a wry smile. "You did?"

He let out a bitter little laugh. "Of course I did. That's exactly how selfish I am."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You don't think I've gotten anything out of this?" She gestured between them. "You are my life, I thought you understood that."

"I did. I do," he quickly corrected himself. "But you just do this thing where you give, and you give, and give, and you don't expect anything in return."

"Well I think you're making me out to be much more selfless than I actually am."

He shrugged but didn't comment on that particular statement. "My father always does something over the top for my mother for Valentine's Day."

Hermione just sighed as things began to click into place. The elder Malfoys had actually been in Venice for the entire week as Lucius' gift to Narcissa. That was the kind of example that Draco had grown up with. She had known that, but now she was wondering if, perhaps, it hadn't had a deeper impact than she'd previously considered.

"You show me everyday that you adore me, Draco, I don't need grand gestures," she responded, as gently as possible.

"I know, I know, but I wanted to make one."

"I wanted you to listen to me," she countered. "I thought you had."

"I understand that too, now, and how it could have felt like I wasn't giving you a great surprise, which is what I told myself, but that I lied to you and went behind your back. Also, you're not my mother."

She snorted. "No, I certainly am not."

He smiled in return. "I just meant that you're not the kind of woman to say one thing when you mean another. I love my mother, but she's all about mind games."

"I like how we talk about things. I like how we come to agreements together."

"Me too, but I know you're not unaware that it isn't my natural instinct to do so."

"Yes, which is why I'm also sorry. I was too harsh with you the other night."

"Maybe," he shrugged, "but it was completely irresponsible and thoughtless of me to leave the way I did. And especially to ignore you."

He'd snuck his hand under her shirt and was stroking the skin of her waist in a way that felt like it was setting her on fire. "You're forgiven. I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too. I think my whole company is gossiping about how we must have had a fight, given my mood."

"Lovely."

"Can I make it up to you?"

She bit her lip as he trailed his hand from her waist to the swell of one breast.

"You better have something pretty impressive to offer me."

"You know I do." He glanced at the boy and puppy between them. "Shower?"

She resisted the urge to rub her thighs together, stubbornly unwilling to let him see her squirm.. "Race you."

**Author's Note: THEY'RE BAAAAACK! Welcome to the sequel to 'A Second Look.' I've missed this little universe and I really hope you enjoy this new portion of their story. Thanks to Weestarmeggie for her beta work, and her support. And thank you all for coming back, and just for reading, I'm so grateful! **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hermione was no stranger to long days. But she thought this one probably took the cake. And that was really saying something. Scorpius was the light of her life. But at the moment he was also the bane of her existence.

"Scorp, please love," she begged. "I know you miss Daddy but we can manage without him for a few days, right?" Hermione was beyond dignity as she attempted to spoon some cereal into the little boy's mouth. He steadfastly refused to eat anything by himself.

Draco was out of town for the week, he had been more than reluctant to leave Scorpius for so long, but she had assured him that she had it covered.

What a fool she was.

Hermione took a deep breath. She had done this plenty of times with the children of her friends. She could handle her own child.

Except that, apparently, she couldn't.

Draco had been gone for four days on a business trip, it was the longest she'd ever been left alone with Scorpius. In fact, it had never before been longer than overnight. She had brushed Draco off when he'd brought it up, unconcerned, stating that she could handle a few days alone with her child. She was laughing at herself now that she was completely messing it up. Why had she been so blase?

Still, she didn't know what she'd done. She'd kept to their normal routine, she'd even made sure to lavish extra affection on the little boy to make up for the absence of his father. But it made no difference. In fact, with every passing hour things seemed to get worse.

The nanny reported that he was listless and didn't have any interest in eating. He'd kept this up for days. And so, with tears welling in her eyes she called in reinforcements.

It was all she could do not to throw herself at either George or Angelina when they appeared on her doorstep, their own two children at their sides. George gave her a kiss on the cheek, raided their pantry for snacks, and then quickly retreated with Fred and Roxie to the cinema room. Angelina followed Hermione to the kitchen.

"Hi Scorpius!" Angelina greeted him, clapping her hands together.

He immediately brightened. "Hi!"

As far as Hermione was aware it was the first word he'd said in days, it was certainly the first one he'd said in her presence.

"Aren't you hungry, Bug?" Angelina asked, using Hermione's preferred pet name for him.

He made a 'gimme' motion with both hands.

Angelina looked at Hermione and she pointed to the makings of Scorpius' meal which were resting on the kitchen worktops.

"I've got you then," Angelina virtually sang as she started to feed him his dinner.

But when she motioned to Hermione to take her place and they attempted to- unobtrusively- switch places, it was like everything came to a halt. Scorpius did everything he could within the restraints of his high chair to turn away from her.

They struggled for a few minutes longer; the baby wriggled this way and that with especially vigorous ferocity when Angelina slipped out to check on her own family, before Hermione heard the other woman return and then felt her hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay. Kids have irrational tantrums. It even makes sense that he's freaking out that Draco's gone, that's a big change for him. And he seems okay to let me feed him, so let me do it while you go relax for a few minutes, take a shower, and then come back."

Hermione nodded, her breath catching. "Thank you."

Angelina's hand clenched on her shoulder. "This is not a favor, this is just what friends do for each other and I'd like to think that's why you called us."

She nodded.

"Also, apparently, I'm going to need to use that cinema room when I'm having a bad day myself, because it seems to be some kind of muggle magic, they're all asleep, even George!"

That startled a laugh out of Hermione, though she knew Angelina was well versed enough in muggle technology to know what a movie was, and had actually seen a few, the concept of being able to screen them in one's own home was still foreign to her.

Scorpius went to bed easily that night and the George Weasley family slept over. George and the kids where they'd fallen asleep in the cinema room. Angelina took a guest room, waving off Hermione's thanks for her assistance with the offhand comment: 'are you kidding me? You basically invited me to a luxury hotel and then took my husband and kids off my hands for the night.'

But the next day was more of the same. And the next. By the end of the week Hermione was also officially at the end of her rope.

She suppressed a sob as she made sure Scorpius was secure in his play area. She nodded to Effie who had discreetly, and without needing to be asked, positioned herself at the corner of the living room to keep an eye on the toddler. Then she sprinted for the master bedroom. She barely resisted the urge to slam the door, but as soon as it was closed she collapsed onto the bed in tears.

Hermione couldn't get him to sleep for the life of her and she had lost track of how many cups of coffee she'd consumed in just the last twenty four hours. The only conclusion she could come to was that she was doing something wrong. Scorpius could sometimes be moody, but when Draco was around he always came back to his usual happy self within a few hours.

She was a terrible mother, that's all there was to it.

She had been laying there for a few minutes staring at the ceiling and trying to gather herself- because she could only make things worse by allowing Scorpius to see her when she was so upset- when the door to the bedroom opened.

"Hermione?" An all too familiar voice asked.

Her eyes closed in mortification. Fabulous, her fiance was home early. Normally she would have been thrilled, but at the moment she just felt inadequate and humiliated.

"Ma-MA," Scorpius squealed.

Hermione looked up to see that he was perched on Draco's hip. She was alternatively thrilled and despaired. Thrilled to hear him call for her again. He'd gone almost non-verbal since Draco had gone out of town. At just over a year old he didn't have a lot of words, but he'd always been very expressive. She was glad for this proof that he was back to himself, but it crushed her heart that he hadn't seemed to feel that same freedom with just her.

"Hi," she breathed, her eyes flicking between the two of them before settling on Draco. "I didn't expect you until tomorrow."

He smiled at her but his eyes were troubled, clearly taking in her disheveled state and probably contemplating her uncharacteristic use of Effie as a babysitter. "I didn't expect to be here until tomorrow but we wrapped up at the end of the day and then I got offered a last minute portkey, I thought I'd grab it. Is that a problem?"

"Of course not!"

"Well then can I ask why you're holed up in here acting like the world has ended?"

Hermione bit her lip, viciously suppressing more tears and let her head fall back onto the mattress. "He hates me."

"Who?"

Hermione craned her neck and gazed at the little boy who was just looking on impassively. "Your son," she whispered.

She recoiled and squeezed her eyes shut when Draco let out a long, loud laugh and was only brought back to the present when she felt the mattress dip next to her. She peeked out from beneath her eyelids but only let out another sob at the sight of Scorpius happily settled on his father's lap.

"Sweetness, he doesn't." He placed his free hand on her thigh. "Of course he doesn't."

"You haven't been here! He's been miserable the whole time you were gone! I did everything I could think of but he didn't want me, he wanted you!"

She watched the conflict flit over his face. He sighed. "I'm not going to pretend I'm not pleased that he missed me. I'm sorry that your feelings are hurt. But you need to cut this out."

Her mouth fell open. She couldn't believe his audacity. Wasn't he meant to be comforting her? "What?"

"I'm sorry that you had a rough week, I really am. But the Hermione Granger I know is made of tougher stuff than this."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"That this kid," he tilted his head in Scorpius' direction, "adores you. And you know better than to let a tough few days rattle that. You're always telling me to be confident in my abilities as a father. It's time for you to practice what you preach."

Hermione wasn't sure if she felt stupid or reassured. "It's just-" she hiccuped, "it was like the moment you left he started acting up."

"Of course he did, his routine was thrown off kilter and-" he smirked at her and made a big display of covering Scorpius' ears, "he's smart, he knew you didn't have reinforcements, he was looking for attention."

"So," she chuckled, trying to blink away her tears, "what you're saying is that he's your child and he was just acting as I should have expected?"

"And look at you, wanting another one," he teased in return. "I think that says more about you than it does me."

Scorpius huffed, he wasn't used to being in a room with both of his parents and being, for all intents and purposes, ignored.

Hermione laughed and reached out her arms. "Welcome home."

Draco awkwardly lay down beside her, given the way that Scorpius was latched onto him, gave her a kiss and settled next to her. "It seems like coming back early was an even better idea than I anticipated."

She sighed. "I can take care of him by myself."

"Of course you _can._ But he's obviously decided to be difficult."

"Like I said, his father's son." She watched in amusement as the child in question draped himself over both of their laps.

"Hi," Draco breathed, leaning in for another kiss.

"I've never been so happy to see you and your annoyingly handsome face," she murmured against his lips.

"I don't know if I'm complimented or insulted."

"Be complimented," she chuckled and leaned into him when he reached an arm around her. Scorpius stretched like a contented cat on top of them, and Hermione wiped her face in frustration.

"What's been going on?" Draco asked. "When we spoke you made it sound like everything was going well- normally."

"I wanted you to think I could handle it," she confessed, "that if you need to go away we would be okay." She looked away. "Scorpius apparently disagrees."

"I think you're being hard on yourself, but tell me what's happened."

"He screamed, the first night you were gone. I was actually worried that he would hurt himself, he was thrashing around so much. So, I let him sleep in our bed, I thought that might help and I guess it did, a little, but he never really settled down."

"Why didn't you tell me this, we spoke that next morning?"

"And what, have you come running back home? I should be able to handle our children on my own."

"You could have had my support though. I have faith in you, I wouldn't have run home, I know you would have figured it out, but I could have helped."

"I guess," she wiped her eyes again, the tears wouldn't seem to stop coming. "I wanted to prove it to you, or maybe to myself," she admitted.

"You don't have anything to prove to me, you know that right?" He asked, kissing her forehead.

"Have to and want to are two different things," she murmured.

"Damn stubborn witch," he murmured in return. "Okay. Go take a bath, I'll put Scorp to bed."

"You just got home," she protested, "you should be the one relaxing."

"I missed him too, it's no chore."

"Okay," she nodded in acquiescence, then she gave Scorpius a kiss. "I love you sweet boy, I'm sorry if I've been cranky." He was silent but let her cover his face with several more kisses, then she turned to Draco. "Love you too."

She was in the shower when he found her. It was not a coincidence that she'd chosen a shower instead of a bath. Draco loved to make love to her in the shower. And she didn't hate it either.

He moved loudly enough as he entered the bathroom to alert her to his presence, but Hermione was certain she would have known he was there regardless. She continued to stand under the spray of the showerhead, relishing in the hot water. She heard the shower door open but she didn't turn around, but soon his body was encapsulating her and she let out a long breath as she slumped back against his chest..

"Hi," she said.

"Hello to you too."

"Scorpius went down okay?" She checked before she could allow herself to fully relax.

"Yeah, no problem. I think he exhausted himself torturing you. He practically threw himself into his cot. I actually think I might be a little insulted." He ran his fingertips over her slick skin, from her hips to her breasts. She shuddered in his arms. "This is a very nice thing to come home to."

She snorted "Me having a virtual nervous breakdown in the bedroom while Scorp is downstairs in Effie's care? Yes, I can see how you would love that."

"Don't do that."

She sighed. "Yeah okay," she agreed, understanding his meaning without needing to be told, and sank further into his embrace as he lapped at the column of her neck with his tongue. "I love you, did I mention that? And I'm glad you're home."

"You did," he chuckled. "But you can say it as often as you like. And I'm glad that I'm home too."

Something in his voice had her spinning in his arms and it felt like her heart stopped for a moment when she caught the expression on his face, because he was looking at her like she was everything he'd ever wanted.

"Draco-" he cut her off with a hard kiss.

"Hush now, I've missed you," he brushed his nose against hers and then he kissed her deeply again before she could begin to reply. She moaned happily into his mouth.

"Draco," she whispered, a needy little whimper.

She felt him smile against her lips.

"Did you miss me?" He asked on a sing-song, between kisses, even as he backed her against the wall of the shower.

She reached up to cup the back of his head. "I really did, and not just for Scorpius' sake."

He chuckled, the sound vibrating pleasantly against her lips. "I'd hope not."

He hitched one of her legs up and over his hip which, given their height difference, shouldn't have been the most comfortable thing in the world, but the contrast of his hard chest against hers and the cool marble at her back, along with the feel of him hard, and ready and _right there_ was incredibly erotic.

"It's been too long. Are you ready? You feel ready." He slanted his mouth over hers and all she could do was hold on tight.

She nodded vigorously. It was a little absurd. It had only been a week, but she had missed him, in every way. He sunk into her slowly and she could feel his smile against her cheek as she gasped. As he began to move within her she marveled, as she always did, at the pleasure she felt with him, how much she trusted that he would bring it to her. Before Draco she'd had no idea she could find so much fulfillment in physical intimacy.

It was not slow and sweet by any stretch of the imagination and before long she was clenching around him, her cries echoing off the shower walls. After she stopped moaning, Hermione started giggling at the way he was languidly caressing her sensitive skin following his own release.

"Feel better now? More relaxed?" He teased.

She arched her back in his arms, pressing her chest against his, making her shudder anew. "Oh yes."

He smirked at her, in that way that he did, but his eyes were soft, and he then maneuvered them both back under the spray, rinsing them off.

"How was your week?" She asked, running her fingers up his arms and across his shoulders.

"It went to plan."

"That's good."

He drew her further into his embrace and kissed her head. "Let's finish here and go to bed."

"Sounds perfect."

**Author's Note: This chapter is brought to you Weestarmeggie's request for something that addressed the not-so-fun side of parenting. It feels even more apropos given the current circumstances. For those of you at home all day, everyday with your kids in the middle of this crisis, you have my respect. Also, I just wanted to say that updates for this story will probably be sporadic. My other two WIPs are my priority, but they both involve teenage Dramione and I needed at least a little of the adult versions of them back in my life. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Harry had just gotten the boys to bed and was settling in with some popcorn to watch the movie he'd been looking forward to all evening when he heard the floo sound. He almost groaned out loud, because there were few people who had unfettered access through the Granger/Malfoy home's wards, and he didn't particularly want to see any of them right now. The Grangers would have been the exception, but they would have arrived by portkey.

"Hello the house!" A voice called out.

This time Harry did groan at the familiar voice and popped up out of the recliner to go and intercept the witch before she woke the kids. He found Pansy Parkinson in the entrance hall, clearly headed towards the main living area. She stopped in her tracks when she saw him.

"Potter?"

"Parkinson." He greeted tersely.

"What are you doing here?"

Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He wasn't the one who'd just barged in unannounced. "I'm babysitting Scorpius. Hermione and Malfoy are at the theatre. What are you doing here?"

She ignored his question. "But why are you here? You do have your own house don't you?"

Harry didn't even try to hold back his eye roll this time. "Yes, but there's more room for them to play here, and my boys think that coming over here is an adventure, whereas Scorpius is a little more wary coming to my place. It's just easier." He was absolutely not going to mention how much he liked the state of the art entertainment system Richard Granger had talked Malfoy into buying which Harry was embarrassed to say he liked so much that he'd briefly considered buying a new house just so that he could have one installed as well. "Now, again, what are you doing here?"

"I came over to see my best friend and my godson."

"Well as I said, Malfoy is out, and Scorpius is asleep. Surely you know that it's past his bedtime."

She glanced at her wrist which was adorned by a delicate watch. "Oh, I didn't realize how late it was."

And for some reason, Harry got the sneaking suspicion that she was lying to him, that she felt like she needed the excuse of seeing Scorpius in order to come over. And that gave him pause. His feelings for Pansy Parkinson were confusing at best. At one time he'd despised her nearly as much as he'd hated Malfoy. But, like Malfoy, he'd recently learned that there was a lot more to her than met the eye. Unlike Malfoy, she seemed to be fighting tooth and nail to keep anybody else from realizing that, him in particular. It was as if she wanted him to hate her, and he'd had enough conflict in his life to resent the- what he considered to be- unnecessary attitude.

"Well, you can wait for Malfoy to get home if you'd like. It'll be a few hours, but I was just about to start a movie," he waved her towards the cinema room, doing his absolute best to be hospitable even though he really just wanted some solitude.

"Thank you so much for inviting me into my own best friend's house," she snarked, crossing her arms over her chest.

He stopped, turned back to face her, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why do you always do that?"

"What?"

"We're having a reasonably civil conversation and you can't just let it remain civil. It's like you're constantly raring for a fight."

"We're not friends, Potter," she snapped.

"I didn't say we were. I used the word civil for a reason. Do you have a problem with me in particular? Is this a Boy-Who-Lived thing? Because I know it can't be about blood status, or about the fact that I'm a Gryffindor, or really even our history in general, because you've made friends with Hermione just fine."

"Hermione is marrying my best friend."

"Yes, your best friend is marrying my best friend, which means that we're pretty much stuck together. I suspect, in the not so distant future, that we will be sharing godchildren. Don't you think we should at least aim for civility?" He asked, again emphasizing the last word.

It was like letting air out of a balloon, so quickly did she deflate.

"I know we can manage it," he decided to press his luck. "We did okay at the Christmas gala."

"It's not personal Potter. Or maybe it is- I just-"

He cut her off by holding a hand up.

"I feel like we should be more comfortable for this discussion. Won't you come in?" He asked with exaggerated politeness.

She blew out a breath and even laughed a little. "Yes, thank you."

"I was down in the cinema room, I have popcorn but I definitely saw some of those biscuits you like in the kitchen earlier, so I'll go and get them and I'll meet you there, you know the way." He ran off before she could say anything.

When he found her while levitating a tray with a plate of biscuits and a pot of tea on it in front of him, she was curled up in one of the luxurious recliners and was giving him the most curious look. He settled their snacks on the low table in front of them, next to his popcorn, and settled into the adjacent recliner.

"You remembered which biscuits I liked?"

He shrugged. "It wasn't that hard, you practically hoard the shortbread when it's around." He picked up the plate and offered it to her, she selected one and took a delicate bite.

He just watched her, not really sure where to go from here, when she surprised him.

"I'm sorry, okay?" She blurted.

He just raised an eyebrow in response.

"You represent everything I was raised to hate."

"Well I'm not going to apologize for that."

"I don't want you to. When I look at you I feel guilty, and I don't like that. I don't like that when I look at you and Hermione, I see me and Draco. I don't like how easy it was for me to hate you but also, I sort of just want to keep doing it because I also really, really don't like being wrong."

Well. He hadn't expected _that._

"Have either Hermione or Malfoy ever told you about the first time I saw them together? As in, I mean, they weren't officially together yet, but they were friendly."

Parkinson's lips curved into something that resembled a smile. It was almost pretty.

"She may have mentioned something about a temper tantrum."

He laughed. "I'd threaten you not to ever tell anybody this for fear of emasculating me, but practically the whole country knows I'm wrapped around Hermione's little finger, so really I don't have anything to worry about."

She actually did smile this time, and it _was_ pretty. "One of your more endearing qualities, actually."

He actually reared back in surprise and she laughed.

"It's a rare wizard who can truly appreciate a powerful witch as opposed to being intimidated by her, or trying to subjugate her," she added.

"Ah. Well, she is that. And I would never."

Parkinson settled in, looking more comfortable now. "So, tell me about this temper tantrum and what Hermione did about it."

He laughed. "She dragged me to the back of her flat and proceeded to point out that I was being pig headed. That it was clear Malfoy had changed and that we were hypocrites for not giving him a chance, especially given that a more open minded world was exactly what we'd fought for."

She frowned. "What's your point, Potter?"

"That the war is over. That against all odds Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy are disgustingly in love. That it's okay to evolve. That you should stop looking at me and feeling guilty. We don't have to be best friends, or friends at all, but I don't want to be a symbol of everything that went wrong for you either. Especially because if you see your relationship with Malfoy in my relationship with Hermione, then we are well and truly stuck together, because they're the real deal and neither of us is going anywhere either.

She nibbled on her biscuit. "That's really decent of you to say."

He shrugged. "Animosity gets old after awhile, you know? And especially with all this stuff with Ron lately...and Hermione doesn't have a lot of people in her corner. Too many people are intimidated by her as you said, or they still have a problem with her blood status. But you seem to genuinely want to be her friend, so I just think the least I can do is try to get along with you."

She nodded and then wrinkled her nose in an almost comical manner. "You're not going to try and hug me now or something, are you?"

He let out a startled laugh. "No, to be honest, except for Hermione, and my boys of course, I'm really not much of a hugger."

"Good."

"But I have to warn you, Hermione is going to keep hugging you whether you like it or not, until you learn to like it."

"Yeah I'd kind of figured that out," she sighed dramatically. "Okay, that's enough of this touchy feely stuff. What monument to bad taste of a film are you about to subject me to?"

He bit back a smile. He was actually glad to see her snarky demeanor return. When she wasn't being cruel or just purposefully difficult he actually liked her spunky personality, she was funny and kept him on his toes. And if she started being outright nice to him that would just be too weird.

He placed the popcorn on the armrests between them, picked up the remote, and did his best to keep a straight face. "It's an action movie. You're going to love it."

**Author's Note: Those of you who follow my other stories might already know this but I have my own little tradition (superstition) that when a story surpasses 1,000 followers on this site I write a bonus chapter to thank you all. This is that chapter for this story, and that's why it's a little different. Plus I've been itching to write Harry and the beginnings of what you can probably see happening here :) How are all you lovely people doing out there? Stay safe. Sending you my virtual love. Thanks for reading! **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Their wedding was beautiful. Hermione had been happy to basically let their mothers have their way while they planned it. They seemed to care a great deal, and she just wasn't all that worried about the details. She had a busy job, which a good portion of the magical population still didn't believe she was capable of performing, and so she had to work twice as hard to prove herself.

More importantly, she had Draco and Scorpius whom she found herself rushing home to see more evenings than not. She missed them over the course of her work day, more than she once would have thought imaginable. She simply didn't have it in her to care about color schemes and flowers; those just weren't her things.

And it had obviously meant so much to her mum and Narcissa that she trusted them. She did spend an entire weekend with the two of them wedding dress shopping and Hermione felt like she had watched her pure blooded future mother in law blossom in front of her eyes over the course of those two days. Hermione wondered how many people in her life hadn't treated Narcissa with some degree of either deference or disdain and held her at arm's length.

In the end, the two women didn't disappoint her. They found a beautiful gown, and then in the magical world, the perfect outer robe to accentuate it for the magical ceremony. And the wedding itself had turned out to be beyond her wildest dreams. First, there was a perfect ceremony in her local church, a reception at her parents country club, then a magical binding at the Manor and a fitting celebration to follow.

And if she had been happy to see her peers in the muggle and magical worlds figuratively eat their words about the way she would end up, well that was just a benefit. A large benefit.

She actually felt a little bit of guilt that she had so much pride in her good luck. Her husband was gorgeous, gracious, and against all odds - thoughtful. Best of all, he came with a perfect little son. A son who had officially to become hers upon their marriage. She wasn't certain she deserved what she'd been given. Which was what gave her pause.

Because her life never turned out this well. Every time it seemed to be turning a corner, things went spectacularly awry.

But the wedding went off without a hitch. Her smiles for the pictures - even those they'd agreed to provide for the press - had come easily.

And then there had been two weeks of sand and sun. Two weeks spent mostly inside, barricaded under the covers with her gorgeous new husband.

Naked. Breathless.

And now her period was late. It seemed too good to be true.

Hermione set the plastic stick down on the floor in front of the toilet with shaking hands. She wasn't going to place it on the vanity because...ew. She washed her hands and then set a timer on her phone, keeping her eyes intentionally off of the muggle pregnancy test on the floor. She couldn't bear to just sit and wonder if two pink lines would appear.

She'd felt certain. But now that confidence seemed to be mocking her.

There had been one night a few weeks ago, during their honeymoon, when she and Draco had made love as they almost always did. But afterwards something had been... different. And she had just known they'd conceived a child that night.

She'd kept quiet. She hadn't planned to keep it a secret, but it had felt sacred, this bond between her and the little being growing inside of her. Selfish, maybe, to hoard such knowledge for herself. Or perhaps it was actually paranoia.

She and Draco had decided early on, when they'd decided to try and get pregnant, that they wouldn't do the charm on her every morning. That they wouldn't turn the process of making a baby into a chore, the results of which they tested daily. However, why she'd felt the urge to wait and use a muggle pregnancy test she couldn't have articulated.

But here she was.

The alarm on her phone sounded and she closed her eyes, briefly bracing herself against the cool marble of the vanity. And then she turned around.

She didn't need to pick it up or even move any closer. The results were as plain as day.

Two pink lines.

She took several deep breaths and resisted the urge to seek out Andromeda or Harry, or anybody really who could help her confirm this with magic. As much as she didn't want to risk disappointing him, Draco deserved to know first.

She wanted him to know first, but she really, really, didn't want to get his hopes up if the test was wrong. So, as an alternative, she removed the second test from the box, rationalizing to herself that two should be enough, enough to assure her that all her intuition on top of the best muggle technology could produce was, in fact, correct.

Three minutes. Hermione spent it curled in on herself on their luxurious marble floor. Her eyes squinched closed.

Three minutes.

Again.

Two pink lines.

She felt like she drifted apart from her rational mind at that point. Or at least she lost the composure she'd been clinging to for weeks so that she wouldn't get Draco's hopes up - or perhaps, even her own - and sent him an owl at work, asking him to come home. She was writing an owl to clear her own schedule for the day when he came sprinting into the room. It wasn't until then that she realized her error.

He looked panicked.

He glanced between Scorpius playing at her feet and her, seated at her desk, and breathed a sigh of relief. "What the hell, Hermione?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."

"Well, mission very well not accomplished!" He barked.

Scorpius looked up in alarm at the tone of his father's voice and Draco's demeanor immediately softened. He lifted the toddler into his arms, tossed him up and down a few times until he was giggling and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I'm sorry," he said to Hermione.

"No, I'm sorry, truly," she responded in return, "I understand why you were worried."

"It's okay. What's going on?" He jostled Scorpius on his hip and they both laughed at the way Scorpius grabbed at Draco's jaw possessively.

Hermione kind of wanted to cry at the sight; so sweet, so innocent. Instead, she stood up. Perhaps her hormones were already catching up with her.

"Do you know the pregnancy detection charm?"

Draco's breath caught and his eyes went wide. "I- yes, of course. Are you serious?"

"Very serious."

He lurched forward and kissed her forehead.

"Would you cast it on me please?" She asked.

She watched as he swallowed thickly, gripped Scorpius a little tighter, but removed his wand from an inner pocket of his robes without further argument.

He went to cast it and then he paused and met her eyes. "I know what we both want, but whatever this says changes nothing, you know that right?"

She nodded. He stepped forward and wrapped his wand-bearing arm around her, then kissed her deeply. As anxious as she had been to get confirmation one way or the other, she now whined in irritation when he pulled away from her. That was, until she noticed that Scorpius was - not so gently - batting at his face.

"Oh Bug," she sighed, caressing his cheek. "I think you are about to be in for a rude awakening."

Draco arched an eyebrow, clearly once again asking for permission and she nodded. He cast the charm and a tell-tale blue glow appeared over her abdomen. She let out a sob and collapsed against his chest.

She looped one arm around Draco's neck and used the other to cup Scorpius' head, running her fingers through his fine hair.

"Are you happy?" She asked Draco when she heard him let out a choked breath.

"Ecstatic," he answered, without hesitation, though he continued to sound rather choked up.

"Me too. But I'm scared."

She felt him take a deep breath. "I won't deny that I'm worried, but I've decided that the universe owes you - if not me - this."

"I hope you're right."

They held each other, and even Scorpius seemed to be absorbing the seriousness of the moment.

Hermione brought Draco's hand to her abdomen. "I'm having trouble believing it."

Scorpius, in a clear attempt to be included, strained in his father's arms to cover their hands with his.

Hermione let out a gasping little breath.

Draco laughed.

"And then there were four."

"Four," Hermione repeated in reverent disbelief. "Four."

00000000000

Harry held her so tight when she told him her news - which she couldn't stop herself from doing the next day, because she was apparently incapable of keeping secrets from her best friend - that she briefly and irrationally worried that it could be bad for the baby.

Draco informed Pansy nearly as quickly because he was nearly bursting with pride, and she could suss nearly anything out anyway. Hermione was trying to be discreet to protect her best friend, and so she hadn't shared her suspicions with Draco, but she was pretty sure Harry would have spilled the beans to the dark haired witch if she hadn't encouraged Draco to do it himself. Because there was definitely something going on there.

Andromeda was the next to know, because Hermione needed a healer that she could trust to check on the health of the pregnancy. She too, held Hermione tight after proclaiming that everything was normal and that she was seven weeks along.

Her parents were tearful and congratulatory, but she got the impression that they had been anticipating their announcement. She noted that they made a special effort to dote on Scorpius that day.

But then Draco dragged his feet informing his own parents. She would have been insulted, but the way that Draco held her at night: caressed her belly, talked to it, and just generally spoke with excitement about the baby, told her that his reticence had nothing to do with shame and everything to do with protectiveness. So she'd decided to grant him time.

However, when Pansy started randomly dropping baby items at their house, Hermione insisted that they had to be told. She didn't much care about Lucius' feelings, but she just knew that if Narcissa realized that so many people had known before her, she would be devastated and Hermione refused to do that to her.

And so, Hermione convinced Draco to tell them over Sunday brunch which had become a weekly affair, and which they alternated between taking at their house and the Manor. Well, at least she thought she had him convinced.

"Draco," Narcissa began, interrupting a lively debate between him and Lucius about some muggle relations legislation that was due to be voted on in the next Wizengamot session. Both men shut their mouths so fast that Hermione almost laughed. "Would you care to explain to me why Hermione keeps kicking you under the table?"

Hermione glared at her husband and he sighed.

"Well Mother," he cleared his throat. "I think that is her way of not so gently reminding me that I agreed to tell you that we'd like a quiet Yule this year, before you start planning anything extravagant."

"What?" Hermione squawked - they'd discussed no such thing.

"Wha!" Yelled Scorpius in imitation.

Draco snickered but Narcissa ignored them both. "May I ask why? This will be Hermione's first Yule Season as a Malfoy, we should celebrate accordingly. It's expected, if we don't it will look like a slight."

Draco casually threw an arm across the back of Hermione's chair. "I know what's expected, Mother. But I think even the staunchest of society matrons will understand that my wife shouldn't be expected to play partial hostess at a ball when she's nine months pregnant. In fact, I think most of them would find it to be downright gauche. And this way, you can throw all your energies into planning a fitting naming ceremony for after the baby's birth. I know how upset you were that I didn't have one for Scorpius."

The room was totally silent and Narcissa placed her teacup back on the table with shaking hands as she clearly processed what her son had just told her, and then nervously looked at Lucius. Hermione's gaze drifted to her father in law as well. He had frozen, his face like stone.

Narcissa audibly exhaled, as if her nerves hadn't already been obvious. "That's wonderful," she said, and Hermione could tell that she was sincere. "Congratulations. Isn't that wonderful Lucius?"

He shifted in his seat and dipped his head in acknowledgement. "Yes. Congratulations." It was stiff but it was so much more than Hermione had hoped for and she actually felt Draco relax beside her.

Narcissa spent the rest of the meal asking Hermione tentative questions about her pregnancy, which at first confused Hermione, because the woman had never been hesitant around her. But then she realized that, unlike planning a wedding, openly discussing a pregnancy was one of those things that simply wasn't _done_ in pureblood circles.

But she knew Narcissa well enough by now to be able to tell that underneath her cool exterior, she was actually bubbling with excitement, so she tried to provide her with a lot of information without having to be explicitly asked, and made a mind note to continue to seek her out and include her in pregnancy related activities.

If she was being honest, she was morbidly curious about what Narcissa might think of the 3D ultrasound her mother had already talked about Hermione having once she was further along.

"Oh Lucius," she breathed, after Hermione had finished telling her a story about how Harry had started hovering so badly at work that she was no longer even allowed to fetch her own tea. "We should make up Draco's old nursery. We still have his cradle and all of the other furniture in that attic." Her gaze drifted to Hermione. "Unless you would prefer the baby to have new things?"

Hermione heard loud and clear what Narcissa wasn't saying: Astoria had bought everything new for Scorpius. Hermione also didn't believe for a moment that the other witch had included Narcissa in any of it.

"No, I think that sounds lovely," Hermione answered.

"And," Narcissa continued, "we could make some changes to Draco's old room to suit Scorpius. That way both children will have their own space here, since you aren't currently using your wing. And, perhaps, sometimes, they could stay here when you need somebody to watch them and others aren't available?" She picked up her teacup again and took a delicate sip.

Hermione's breath caught, and she wondered how long Narcissa had been waiting for an opportunity to broach this subject. Her parents, Harry, Andromeda, even George and Angelina all baby-sat Scorpius on a regular basis. Pansy, while a loving godmother, had offered Scorpius an entire tin of biscuits the one time she'd been asked to watch him and was therefore no longer allowed to do so without another adult being present.

However, they'd never so much as asked Lucius and Narcissa. Actually, as far as Hermione was aware, Scorpius had never in his life been left alone with his grandparents. Hermione had thought they just weren't interested in the more hands-on aspects of child care, but perhaps she and Draco both had mistaken reticence for disinterest.

She looked at Draco who was staring at his mother with wide eyes. He shifted his gaze to her and tilted his head as if to say 'your call.'

Hermione turned back to Narcissa. "That would be very much appreciated. And thank you for making space for them here, not many children are lucky enough to have their own rooms at their grandparents' house."

Narcissa literally waved her off. "I know that you don't live here at the moment, and perhaps you'll never live here again, but as far as your children go, this is their home, their birthright. They belong here."

Draco bristled and Hermione knew that he was taking that as a criticism of his choices, but Hermione heard how the other witch put a special emphasis on the words 'their birthright' and knew what she was trying to convey. Half-blood or not, Narcissa considered this new baby to be a Malfoy and she would accept him or her as such, and would treat them no differently than she treated Scorpius.

Hermione had rarely ever been so touched.

"Thank you Narcissa," Hermione answered softly.

There was a beat of silence and then Lucius cleared his throat. "Hermione."

She turned to look at him. He always said her name like he couldn't quite believe the syllables were leaving his mouth. It was more amusing than it was insulting.

"Yes?"

"I was able to find a copy of the book we were discussing when you were last here. I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to take a look at it."

"Oh yes please," she practically leapt to her feet.

Draco looked at her, obviously questioning if she was truly okay with this, but she just smiled. "It's a lovely day, maybe you and your mother could take Scorpius out to the gardens to play? Tire him out?"

The child in question perked right up. "Scorp play?"

She turned to him. "Yes, would you like to go outside and play?"

He bobbed his head vigorously while Draco rolled his eyes. "I like how you phrased that as a question but it was clearly a command." But he stood up and went to retrieve the baby anyway. Hermione just laughed and trotted over to Lucius who led her out of the room.

They walked along in silence and Hermione became more and more unnerved the longer it lasted. She hadn't been truly afraid of Lucius since she was a teenager, but he did have an intimidating presence about him, and considering the news they'd just given him and the fact that Lucius cared so much about blood purity that he'd fought two wars over the issue, well, she thought she might be in for a very uncomfortable conversation.

"I'm sorry," she blurted when they entered his study.

He turned to look at her and tilted his head. "What are you apologizing for?"

She laughed nervously. "I don't know? Not for being pregnant. I won't apologize for that, but for upsetting you, I guess? I don't actually enjoy doing that. It's not in my nature. I'm a people pleaser."

He actually smiled. "And yet you have no trouble speaking your mind."

"Yes, well, telling the truth is an even larger part of my nature."

That sobered him. "You are an honorable young woman."

She was brought up short. "I — thank you?"

He paused and visibly gathered himself. "I find myself in your debt yet again, and I thought it was time that I acknowledged it, for the sake of my own honor."

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean."

"The Dark Lord, Hermione," he said quietly and she felt her eyes go wide. "I know you may not believe me, but nobody was happier to see him fall than I. And Mr. Potter continues to get most of the credit, but I am aware that he could not have done it without you. My family survives because of your bravery."

Hermione could only stare at him for the longest time, he held her gaze steadily. "Well, you're welcome, I guess. But I know that you know that I didn't do it for you."

"Nevertheless," he tapped his walking stick on the floor and his lips quirked in what appeared to be amusement. "And then you came crashing into my son's life last year. I was not happy about it."

Hermione bit her lip to keep from making a sarcastic remark, but he cocked an eyebrow at her and she knew that he knew what she was holding back.

"I did not realize until then how deeply unhappy Draco was, and had been since he was a teenager. Nor did I realize how estranged we had become from him, even living in the same house. You have brought him back to us. And so you see, now there are two debts which I can never hope to repay."

Hermione was gobsmacked, but she knew she couldn't just stand there and say nothing to that astonishing statement. "You don't owe me anything for loving your son, Lucius. He's remarkable and," she considered her next words, "you had a hand in that, so if we're accumulating debts here, I guess I actually owe you."

He chuckled but shook his head. "I also wanted to thank you for your treatment of Narcissa, it hasn't gone unnoticed."

Hermione shrugged. "She's lovely. You hear all these stories about nightmare mother in laws, but well, like I said, she's lovely."

He nodded and cleared his throat. "I should mention that the cradle Narcissa spoke of earlier is actually a family heirloom. Before Scorpius, every Malfoy for generations had slept in it. It would mean a great deal if you would use it. I'm uncertain why Astoria refused."

"It probably has something to do with her being a heinous bitch," Hermione spat.

Lucius froze, met her eyes, and burst out laughing. He actually bent over at the waist and guffawed. However, Hermione couldn't bring herself to be embarrassed by her outburst or even enjoy having elicited such a response from the usually stoic man; she was too busy processing his words and allowing them to sink in.

'Every Malfoy for generations...it would mean a great deal if you would use it.'

Just as his wife had done earlier, she was almost sure that he was his way of acknowledging the baby as a true Malfoy. Hermione had to bite down hard on her lip and clench her fists at her sides to keep from doing something she was certain he wouldn't handle well, like bursting into tears or, Merlin forbid, hugging him.

When he calmed down she took a deep breath and absentmindedly placed a hand on her belly. "_That_ would be my honor."

**Author's Note: I didn't write the wedding, it just felt redundant. But in an utter fit of self-indulgence I did imagine it and I've posted some of my ideas on my Pinterest board for this story. Same name over there if you're interested. Thank you a million times to Weestarmeegie. Thank y'all for reading. Please continue to be careful!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Dearest readers, I'm still here! It's been a hell of a few months. Well, I suppose it's been a hell of a year, but it's been particularly bad in my household for a few months. Many of you have reached out to me to check on me and I cannot express how much that meant to me. I'm sorry that I haven't had the time or energy to reply to you individually. I'm hoping you will prefer a new chapter. Seriously, so much love to you all, I'm infinitely grateful. I hope you enjoy this!**

Chapter 5

"It's a girl," Andromeda declared, even as she continued to run the scan with her wand over Hermione's abdomen in order to make sure that the baby was healthy.

Draco and Hermione had arrived at this appointment expecting to find out the sex of the baby. They'd decided that knowing it might better prepare Scorpius for the arrival of his sibling. It was probably wishful thinking, he was just a toddler after all, but it couldn't hurt.

Ironically, Draco found himself unprepared, and his breath caught at his aunt's words. He hadn't cared whether they had a boy or a girl. He really hadn't. But now that he knew; the idea of a little witch to spoil, a girl who looked like Hermione and would no doubt be as brilliant as she was, felt a little overwhelming. And more than a little wonderful. But there was also some other feeling there, something decidedly less pleasant, that he couldn't quite pin down.

Hermione looked up at him for his reaction and he smiled at her hoping he looked more composed than he felt.

"Are you okay?" She asked, slipping her hand into his as they left the exam room and made their way towards the Floo fireplaces. "Are you disappointed?"

He looked at her questioningly.

"That it's not a boy?"

"No, not at all," he denied immediately, a little surprised that she even felt the need to ask. Because whatever he was feeling, he was certain it wasn't that. He tilted his head in contemplation. "I think maybe I'm a little intimidated by the idea of a daughter."

"Hmm," she said, nodding.

"You?"

"I'm a little intimidated as well, but I like the idea of having one of each, I think."

He nearly stopped short. "You're intimidated?" As far as he was concerned his wife was like the baby whisperer or something.

She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. "Well, yeah. Aside from the whole being pregnant and giving birth thing, pretty much all the children I'm closest to are boys. I'm sure it's not that different in the end but…" she trailed off and shrugged.

"You'll be great." He squeezed her hand.

"So will you," she responded, voice suspiciously raspy. She cleared her throat. "And given the way your mother keeps slipping up and calling the baby 'she' she'll be thrilled, so you'll gain some points there."

He laughed. "And we'll be up to our eyeballs in frilly things with bows in no time."

"Who do you think will be worse, her or Pansy?"

"Oh I am not taking that bet either way."

She stopped walking, pulling on his arm to bring him to a halt as well and pointed a finger in his direction. "But I don't subscribe to traditional gender roles. Girls should be allowed to dress how they want and play sports—"

"Or have careers?" He questioned, arching an eyebrow at her. "I'm very aware, Assistant Director Malfoy."

Hermione had initially been adamant that she didn't want to change her name. In the past he wouldn't have understood that decision. As little as five years ago he would have been furious at the mere suggestion.

But when Hermione had expressed her opinion and given her reasons, he'd barely blinked an eye. In the face of everything else, he couldn't bring himself to feel threatened by her choice, and he certainly couldn't feel emasculated when he'd willingly chosen such an independent woman. They'd had exactly one discussion over the issue before the wedding, that's all that had been necessary.

So, he had been flabbergasted when they'd returned from their honeymoon and gone to the Ministry to finalise Scorpius' adoption and she'd taken one look at the parchment work and declared that it wasn't right. The solicitors and clerks had fallen all over themselves to assure her that everything was in order.

"_No this says 'Hermione Jean Granger,' which means I won't have the same name as my son," she explained slowly, as if they were all very stupid. "I've changed my mind, I want to be a Malfoy. Make the necessary corrections please." And then she calmly pushed the stack of parchment back across the table without so much as glancing in his direction._

Less than an hour later they walked out of the building—it was good to be friends with the Minister—and Hermione Jean Malfoy was Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy's legal mother. She'd later explained to him that given that Scorpius wasn't her biological child she never wanted him to have any reason to believe she didn't accept him completely. He wasn't sure that had been strictly necessary, but she hadn't given him a chance to argue, and if he was being very honest, he wasn't certain he would have tried.

"Touche." She conceded as he started pulling her along again. "And Scorpius will be allowed to play with whatever toys he likes, even dolls," she said, in an almost off-handed manner.

"Okay," Draco answered dryly, "but we will not be talking about that with my father. Some battles aren't worth fighting."

She sighed.

"And for that matter," he continued. "When have you heard me raise a single protest to a woman playing quidditch? I'm counting on both of my children inheriting my flying skills. In fact," he looked at her and winked. "Maybe next year we can have another and then all three of them can play chaser as a unit on the Slytherin team when they reach Hogwarts." He could practically feel Hermione gaping at him but he refused to look at her. They'd reached the Floo by then, and as was a rule these days, he preceded her. He stepped into the flames and just before he was whisked away heard her call out.

"You're out of your mind, Malfoy!"

He waited for her, smirking, but when she stepped out of the flames she seemed entirely composed.

He reached for her but she sidestepped him. "You know, you seem very willing to commit to a course of action which would have us outnumbered by three children under the age of three."

He blanched and immediately back tracked, waving his hands in surrender. "I was kidding, obviously. We can see how this one goes and then maybe talk in a few years."

"That's what I thought," she snickered.

It was not until the two of them stepped into the living room and Draco set eyes on his son, who had obviously just awoken from his nap, that he began to get more insight into the emotions he'd felt at the news that they were having a girl: guilt.

This pregnancy could hardly be a more different experience for Draco than Astoria's pregnancy with Scorpius. Scorpius had been conceived out of obligation. Not love, not even passion.

Draco had hardly even seen Astoria for the entire nine months given that she'd spent the majority of the pregnancy in France. A concession which Draco had been willing to make because he figured the more relaxed she was, the better the chance she had of reaching full term, and things had become very tense at the Manor.

He'd certainly never spent hours lying in bed talking to her belly like he had been with Hermione lately. He'd only ever felt his son kick a few times.

And then when they'd discovered that Scorpius was a boy what he'd felt hadn't been joy, but relief. Because that meant it was over. No more trying. Looking back on it, he thought that might have been the day he decided he wanted a divorce.

But what did that say about him? It's not that he was worried that he would love the new baby more than he loved Scorpius, that wasn't possible. But before he held him that first time he'd thought of him as little more than an obligation, fulfilling his duty to continue the line. And that seemed monstrous.

Hell would freeze over before he ever told Scorpius that he'd once felt that way. But the truth of it still felt like a lead weight sitting on his chest.

Draco dismissed Mrs. Pearson for the day and winced as he watched his wife heft Scorpius into her arms. He'd been assured that it was perfectly safe but it still made him nervous.

Hermione yawned. "Mummy needs a nap, I think," she muttered to the little boy with a frustrated sigh.

The pregnancy had been relatively easy so far, except for how quickly Hermione got worn out which was maddening to a witch who was as active as she was. He was just pleased he'd been able to talk her into taking the rest of the day off after their appointment instead of returning to work.

"I'll take Scorp for a walk," he offered.

"You don't have to do that. You two won't bother me if you stay here."

He shook his head. "I want to, I think I need to spend a little time with my son."

Understanding dawned in her eyes. "Okay then."

"Hey Scorp, would you like to go get some ice cream?" His head whipped around and he began nodding vigorously.

"Draco," Hermione scolded half-heartedly with a little laugh.

"What? A little ice cream never hurt anybody."

She shook her head but handed Scorpius, who was eagerly straining for his father, over. "I feel the need to say something very prosaic like: "Don't spoil your dinner." He nodded and gave her a kiss and watched in amusement as Scorpius insisted on giving her two. "You boys have fun."

He placed a hand on her abdomen. "You girls have a good rest."

"You're going to enjoy that, aren't you?"

He just shrugged and went to fetch the pram. They went to the park first, because if he was going to fill the kid with sugar it was best to wear him out a little, and he'd learned from experience that running around after ice cream was a bad idea.

Soon they were at their favorite ice cream shop. The girl scooping the ice cream recognized them and even asked about Hermione. She had beamed and gushed when he told her about the baby.

It reminded Draco of how much he'd come to love the muggle world. If he'd had any idea he would have moved here immediately after the war. Nobody knew or cared who he was. If he was given a second look it was only because Scorpius was adorable. Well, okay, there were some flirtatious women, but these days all he had to do was discreetly flash his wedding ring and most of them had the decency to back off. It was paradise for a man who, for one reason or another, had been under scrutiny his entire life.

He settled himself at a table and then angled his body so that Scorpius was sitting in front of him in his pram. He was careful to place the cups of ice cream well out of the baby's rather impressive reach.

"So," he began, scooping the first bite into Scorpius' mouth, which ensured he had his full attention. "I know you won't remember this conversation, but I think that it's important we have it anyway, if only for Daddy's peace of mind, okay?"

Scorpius' response was to open his mouth for another bite. Draco laughed.

"We learned something today. The baby in Mummy's belly is a girl. Which means that in a few months you're going to have a sister. And it's really beginning to occur to me that I don't know how you're going to feel about that. I don't have any siblings, but I like to think that my relationship with my parents is very different to the way that Mummy and I treat you."

Scorpius just stared at him with those big blue eyes. Draco put the ice cream down for a moment and ran a hand through his hair.

"Right I should get to the point," he sighed. "I'm afraid we haven't been fair to you. You had kind of a shite start to life. The woman who gave birth to you barely looked at you. And then it was just me and you, with me trying to muddle through without killing you. And I think I did an alright job. But it's not fair that I know you didn't recognize my voice as a newborn because you'd never heard it before. And it's not fair that you didn't have people practically salivating for your arrival or fawning over you when you got here like your sister does."

"Dada!" Scorpius suddenly demanded, almost making Draco jump, and then he laughed when he saw the kid was pointing to the ice cream that had been abandoned on the table and making a grabby hand.

"Sorry. I'm falling down on my duties." He fed him a few bites before continuing. "I can't tell your Mummy this because she'd never stop feeling guilty, but I wonder if we shouldn't have given you some more time with just the two of us." He chuckled sardonically to himself. "Can't talk to your wife so you unload on your one year old son, great plan Malfoy," he murmured under his breath.

"I just need you to know that we weren't trying to replace you. I would never want you to look back and see how quickly we had another baby and think that's what this was about. Or that we needed to have our own kid—nobody will ever love you more than your mummy does. And one day we'll sit you down and do our best to explain all of this to you for real. But for now I needed to get this out so that when I go home Mummy won't be able to pick it out of my brain with her creepy Granger senses."

He took a deep breath and they finished their ice cream, Scorpius was suspiciously quiet and Draco assumed he'd picked up on his rather somber mood.

"What do you say we go find a present for your sister, from her big brother?"

They made a stop at a children's boutique and a small toy shop—where Scorpius was surprisingly well behaved—before returning home. The house was louder than it should have been and he walked in the living room to see Pansy and Potter seated on one couch bickering over...something. They didn't even notice him walk in.

Hermione was perched on the other sofa watching them, amusement clearly painted on her face. She had a variety of toys arranged on the cushions around her which Draco could only assume Albus, who was playing on the floor with James, had brought to her to 'take care of.' He'd seen the kid do it many times.

She caught sight of them and grinned. "Did my loves have fun?" she asked. Scorpius immediately kicked to get down and made a beeline for her.

"We did. Were we expecting company?"

In tandem Pansy and Potter's head swiveled to look at them.

"Finally! You're late," said Pansy in lieu of a greeting.

"Well Pans, it's awfully hard to be late for an appointment you didn't know you had."

She rolled her eyes. "Like I wasn't going to come over to find out if I was getting a new little goddaughter or godson, ASAP."

"Me too," Potter piped up.

It was Draco's turn to roll his eyes. The two of them were in some kind of unspoken competition to determine which of them was the better best friend. If it wasn't so well meaning and hilarious, it would have been annoying as hell.

"Anyway," Pansy continued, drawing out the word and cutting her eyes in Potter's direction. "Granger refused to tell us unless you were here, so sit," she ordered, pointing to a spot next to Hermione.

Draco knew how to pick his battles with this woman so he followed her instructions. Hermione deposited Scorpius on the floor with the other kids. He glanced at Hermione who shot him an amused grin and took his hand. Pansy was rummaging around in an enormous handbag and emerged with two wrapped boxes, one in pink and one in blue, and held them out with a little flourish.

"Just point," she ordered.

Draco and Hermione looked at each other and then, in tandem, pointed to the pink package. Pansy let out a little shriek, shoved the present into Hermione's hands before—to his surprise—hugging them both.

"Well, open it," she insisted.

Hermione carefully tore through the wrapping and lifted the lid. She pulled out a delicate glass flower in shades of pale pink and ivory. Draco recognized it as a peony. Hermione just gazed at it, turning it this way and that, letting the light reflect through it. He looked up at Pansy who was biting her lip, looking as nervous as Draco had ever seen her.

"I thought maybe for the nursery, I know you don't have an aesthetic yet, but you had peonies at your wedding so I took a chance. They're feminine, but not overdone."

Draco almost laughed out loud at the word 'aesthetic,' but he knew his friend didn't mean any harm, so he refrained. "Angling to decorate the nursery Pans?" He asked with an arch of one brow.

"I may have had an idea or two," she shrugged.

And then—completely unexpectedly—Hermione let out a sob. He immediately unlinked their hands and wrapped an arm around her. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." She inhaled shakily and turned to face him. "Everything is 're having a baby, Draco. This is real. And we're so lucky to have such good friends," she wailed.

He tried to keep the amusement off of his face at her slightly over the top and almost certainly hormone fueled reaction. But he knew he hadn't succeeded when she reached up and flicked his nose.

"Don't laugh at me Malfoy. You did this to me!"

"You're right," he soothed, kissing her temple.

"Don't patronize me either," she growled. It would have been much more intimidating if she hadn't been all tearstained and clutching a glass flower.

As if reading his mind she sneered at him before looking away. He followed her line of sight to see Pansy—who had retreated from them, obviously a little freaked out—hovering next to Potter who, oddly, had a hand hovering at the small of her back.

"It's perfect Pansy, thank you so much. And of course you can decorate the nursery."

Draco winced, sensing that his wife was going to come to regret agreeing to that—at least without any caveats—in the coming months. He'd have to have a talk with Pansy.

There were hugs and handshakes all around after that. Even the children got in on the action. James, who was old enough to understand, latched onto his Aunt Hermione and began telling her all about what a good helper he would be and that he didn't even care that the baby was going to be a girl.

"I brought Hermione's favorite Italian food," Potter announced eventually, like he didn't know what else to say. Draco had never met somebody who could be so awkward and so thoughtful at the same time. But they all happily retreated to the kitchen.

It was there that Draco began to notice a series of unusual things going on between his best friend and Potter. When they began unpacking the take-away and were distributing it, Potter automatically handed Pansy a particular carton as if he'd already known that it was her favorite.

And when Pansy interrupted Hermione and Potter's discussion where they were lamenting some issues at the Ministry in order to scold Potter by telling him that he needed to put his foot down, and that he couldn't always depend on his reputation to pull him through 'like I told you last week,' Draco's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

However, it was when James decided that he was full and climbed down off of his chair and climbed onto Pansy's lap, and she only looked slightly uncomfortable, but simply readjusted him so that she could continue eating, that his mouth almost dropped open in shock.

He glanced at his wife out of the corner of his eyes but she gave him a small, but definitive shake of her head. That was fine, it could wait, but they were definitely talking about this later.

He attempted to convey this sentiment with his eyes, but she only rolled hers in response.

Hermione was seated on the edge of their bed applying lotion when he returned from walking Falcor later that evening. He smirked at her. "Just who the hell do Potter and Pansy think they're fooling?" He asked.

She snorted. "Oh darling, nobody but themselves."

He stopped short. "What? So they aren't seeing each other in secret? I don't think I heard her make fun of him once tonight!"

"They are, they're just pretending they're not dating."

"But Potter told you?" He asked, feeling a little put out.

"Of course not, he's just let a few things slip. I know that they see each other without us on a fairly regular basis. I truly believe that right now they are just friends; they're ignoring it if there's anything both have some issues to work through. "

"And you didn't tell me this, why?" He asked, realising he was more irritated that he hadn't noticed what was going on than he was angry. Some Slytherin he was.

She shrugged. "Well it's not really any of our business, is it? And they deserve time to figure it out, whatever it is."

"Like they've ever had a problem inserting themselves into our business."

She stopped what she was doing and met his eyes. "Draco. Do you really have any desire to get in the middle of _that_?"

Draco felt his eyes go wide at the thought of the possible fallout. "Good call, sweetness, as usual. We'll just stay far, far out of it and," he winced, "deal with it, if it implodes."

She licked her lips and seemed to consider that. "You're taking this better than I thought you would."

"I'm trying not to be a hypocrite," he admitted. He'd had a couple of hours to think about it and he'd realised that not only had Potter been amazingly supportive of his relationship with Hermione, but that even though he could barely even admit it to himself, he trusted him with Pansy.

"I think they might be good for each other. She doesn't coddle him, or gods forbid, worship him. And he's not intimidated by her."

"Yeah, maybe," he conceded, walking into the room. "No more talk of those two in the bedroom," he made a face.

She laughed and reached out her arms for him. "Did you bring me a present too?" She asked in a sweet little voice, eyeing the wrapped gift in his hand which he'd snagged from Scorpius' pram before he'd come upstairs.

"Well, technically it's for the baby."

"Do I at least get to open it, or did you just bring it in here to tease me?"

He rolled his eyes and handed it to her as he perched on the bed next to her.

"Awww," she cooed, once she'd opened the package and pulled out the soft white towel with a hood, topped off with a unicorn horn. "It's adorable, Draco, I'm sure she'll love it!"

"Well, those towels were some of the first things you bought for Scorpius and he loved them. So I thought it was only appropriate that Daddy get one for Baby Girl."

"You remember that?" Her eyes were welling with tears.

"It wasn't even a year ago," he chuckled. "But of course, I'll never forget that day."

"Yeah, me either," she scoffed. He must have looked puzzled because she continued. "You agreed to meet my parents that day, you crazy man. We had only been seeing each other a couple of weeks!"

He put his arms around her and dragged her up to lay against the pillows and caressed her cheeks. "As it turns out, you make me brave in ways I never thought I could be."

"Hmmm," she kissed his neck. "Did you get whatever you needed to work out with Scorp off your chest?"

Draco huffed to himself over her stupid Granger senses.

"Yeah, just. Don't ever let me take any of our children for granted, okay?"

"You wouldn't do that."

Her answer was automatic and he couldn't decide if it was more reassuring that she had so much faith in him, or worrisome that she had too much.

"Just promise me," he insisted.

She took a long breath in and out and then tilted his chin until he was meeting her eyes. "I promise."

"Thank you."

"And if you do, I'll just do that aristocratic thing where I pack them all up and head off to one of our houses in the country and put up so many wards you won't be able to enter the county until you come to your senses."

He burst out laughing. When he calmed down he nuzzled her hair. He knew he needed to get up and dress for bed, and he could probably use a shower, but he couldn't bring himself to pull himself away from her increasingly curvy body and more intoxicating presence.

"Hey Draco?" She asked after a while as she stroked his hair.

"Yes?"

"Do we actually have any country houses?"

And just when he thought he couldn't laugh any harder, he did.


End file.
